Chief Minister said that Himachal Pradesh has topped in the implementation of Twenty Point Programme in last two years and was at the top position till December last, this year also which showed State Government’s commitment for the speedy upliftment of the poor and weaker sections of the society besides accelerating the pace of development. He was speaking in the afternoon session of discussions on Annual Plan priorities with the MLAs of Mandi, Bilaspur and Chamba districts.

Referring to the plan priorities of the MLAs, Prof. Prem Kumar Dhumal said that every possible steps were taken to prepare the Detail Project Reports (DPRs) at the earliest and added that 250 forest clearances had been obtained from Government of India, 148 sent by the present Government and 102 sent earlier. This had been possible due to concerted efforts of the State Government, he added.

Chief Minister said that State had been appreciated at various forums for best project implementation and added that recently Government of India and Asian Development Bank had conferred Award on the State for doing good works by the Himachal Pradesh Power Development Corporation. He said that with this the tally of Awards conferred on the State during last four years had gone upto 55.

Referring to the implementation of schemes under National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), he said that when present Government had taken over there were 29 assembly segments in the State where less than 20 crores were being spent and added that with the constant persuasion of the State Government out of them 13 assembly segments had surpassed this and now Rs. 30 to 50 crores were being spent these segments under NABARD.